Get Ready for Activating Heritage 2022!

Get Ready for Activating Heritage 2022!

Our annual Activating Heritage conference for arts and culture professionals is starting soon, March 21-25. We’re excited to share with you everything we’ve got in store this year. Read below to learn a little more about Activating Heritage. We hope you’ll join us!

What Is the Activating Heritage conference?

Activating Heritage is an annual conference developed and delivered by the Alliance, in cooperation with Partners and Core Members. The conference connects our Members and other arts & culture workers from across the Chicago region with meaningful, capacity-building presentations and workshops facilitated by a host of scholars and leaders in the field. By reviewing best practices in financial management, marketing and communications, grant writing, collections practices, and other topics, the Alliance strengthens our members’ capacity to fulfill their significant and unique missions.

Mosaicdragon dancers

Guests at a past Activating Heritage.

What can we expect from this year’s Activating Heritage?

The conference theme this year is “The Stories We Tell.” Sessions on topics from budgeting to oral history management will all connect back to the power of narratives and storytelling.

The first day’s events on Monday, March 21 will take place in-person at DANK Haus German American Cultural Center. We’ll kick off with a Plenary Session panel with Emmy-winning reporter Adriana Cardona-Maguigad and Media Burn Executive Director Sarah Chapman in discussion on the power of narratives, moderated by award-winning storyteller Ada Cheng. We’ll follow that with a presentation of the Alliance’s Outstanding Community Award Leader nominations. Then a Networking Brunch will start at 12pm, with food from Blue Sky Bakery.

All sessions from Tuesday through Friday will be hosted online, available to join live via Zoom or to watch via a secure livestream. We have a wide range of speakers lined up to share their insights and expertise, including:

  • Christena Gunther, Founder and President, Chicago Cultural Accessibility Consortium
  • Carlos Hevia, Director of Business Development, Multilingual Connections
  • Latham Zearfoss, Cultural Liaison for the Cultural Asset Mapping Project
  • And lots more

Who should come to Activating Heritage?

Museum workers, curators, artists, educators, nonprofit professionals, humanities students, historians, cultural heritage workers. Anyone who loves culture and believes it is worth preserving and sharing may find the conference valuable and is welcome to attend!

Sounds great! Where do I register?

Hooray! We’ll see you there! 

Register online at ActivatingHeritage.org or click the button below. General Registration is $35, Partner Members are $25, Core Members are $20, and Students are $12.

The Chicago Cultural Alliance is committed to economic equity and inclusion. If you are in need of financial support for admission expenses, please email [email protected].

We’re proud of the conference lineup we’ve prepared for you this year and hope to see you there. Feel free to reach out to us with any questions!

Marie Rowley, Marketing and Communications Manager

Monique Brinkman-Hill – Executive Director of the South Side Community Art Center

Monique Brinkman-Hill – Executive Director of the South Side Community Art Center

Have you met Monique?

If not, let us do the honor of introducing you to Monique Brinkman-Hill, who was appointed as South Side Community Art Center’s Executive Director in December 2019. Having to take over just before the start of 2020 and all the twists and turns it had in store, Monique and her team have worked hard to support their organization in its 80th year.

Do you want to hear about what it’s like to serve as a relatively new executive director during a pandemic and learn more about the South Side Community Art Center?

Listen (and/or watch) Monique’s interview with the Alliance’s own new executive director, Peter Vega, in this episode of Cultural Connections!

MOSAIC 2020 Outstanding Cultural Leader – Kathleen McDonald

MOSAIC 2020 Outstanding Cultural Leader – Kathleen McDonald

If you find yourself wondering how people end up working in their field or what it is like to work at a museum, this episode of Cultural Connections is perfect for you! 

Join Executive Director Peter Vega and Kathleen McDonald as they discuss their experiences in the arts/humanities. Kathleen has been active in the world of arts and humanities since her college years (even though it wasn’t her original plan!) and worked her way up the ranks in museums.

Maybe this episode will inspire you or someone you know to get involved at a local museum or heritage center!

We are a month into our Cultural Connections Campaign and we want to thank you for tuning in every week to listen to our members and supporters discuss topics on cultural diversity, inclusion, and equity. So far we have raised a total of $15,000 towards our goal of $50,000. We know we can hit that goal, but we need your help.

Thank you for your ongoing commitment to connect, promote, and support centers of cultural heritage for a more inclusive Chicago.

We simply could not do this without you.

Our #GivingTuesday Roundtable is officially LIVE!

Our #GivingTuesday Roundtable is officially LIVE!

Our Giving Tuesday Roundtable is now LIVE! Featuring 

Moderated by WBEZ’s Steve Bynum!

Check out the video above to watch our members discuss the hardships cultural heritage centers have faced in this challenging year and how they are working to keep their organization afloat. 

Don’t forget we need your help as we raise $5,000 to get us towards our goal of $50,000. All donations help fund our unique cross-cultural collaborations such as this Roundtable, and capacity building programs like our Activating Heritage Conference. Giving Tuesday is the year’s biggest donation celebration, and it starts right now! 

Rather listen? Check us out on SpotifyStitcher or anywhere you get your podcasts!

The Chicago Cultural Alliance’s Board of Directors pledged to match dollar for dollar donations up to $5,000 until Giving Tuesday on December 1st. Your gift makes double the impact when you support the Chicago Cultural Alliance today.

Former Cultural Champion Janet Carl Smith – Cultural Connections Ep. 3

Former Cultural Champion Janet Carl Smith – Cultural Connections Ep. 3

“I wanted to be in the places, where I would be the one who could speak up and say  ‘Have you thought about the arts? ‘ “

Janet Carl Smith is an ardent supporter of the Chicago Cultural Alliance, recipient of the Alliance’s Cultural Champion Award in 2014, and has been an ally for the arts and culture community in Chicago for many years. You can learn about how she used her positions over the years to advocate for the arts in the spaces that not everyone can access and why you should do the same!

Check out this episode of Cultural Connections featuring Janet Carl Smith and as always, Chicago Cultural Alliance executive director Peter Vega on our YouTube Channel or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

The Chicago Cultural Alliance’s Board of Directors pledged to match dollar for dollar donations up to $5,000 until Giving Tuesday on December 1st. Your gift of makes double the impact when you support the Chicago Cultural Alliance today.

#Giving Tuesday Member Roundtable

#Giving Tuesday Member Roundtable

Don’t miss the Alliance’s #GivingTuesday Roundtable

Tuesday, December 1st, 2020 at 12 pm on YouTube

 

On December 1, 2020, people all around the world are coming together to tap into the power of human connection and strengthen communities and change our world. Will you be one of them?

The Chicago Cultural Alliance will be participating in #GivingTuesday by hosting a Member Storytelling Roundtable. We want to give Members the opportunity to tell you about the struggles they have had this year and how the Alliance has helped them. The Roundtable will premiere on our YouTube Channel and an extended audio – only version will premiere as a part of the Cultural Connections Podcast on all podcast streaming platforms.

By joining us for this event, you’re proving that in times of uncertainty, generosity can bring the whole world together.

Here is how you can participate:

1. Mark your calendar by RSVPing to this event here.

2. Give. On December 1, go to https://bit.ly/31bgbAP and donate. You can also support our organization in other ways by visiting our Support Page.

3. Spread the word. Encourage your friends and family to join you in creating real impact on December 1 by sharing what our mission means to you and why you support our organization. Make sure to use hashtag #GivingTuesday and tag us so we can share!

Let’s rally together to create a more inclusive Chicago.